Time for a silly one.

[Cannonshop]

Challenge: design an Aerospace fighter that is intended to NEVER enter an atmosphere.  Make your best guesses as to what features fit best with a fighter (or smallcraft) designed to operate solely in hard vacuum, and what kind of roles it should excel at.

[idea weenie]

Rough ideas:

• Thrust is equal to Engine Rating/Fighter mass +4 (existing is ER/FM +2) (a space-focused but atmosphere-capable would be ER/FM+3)
• Its engine is not designed to operate in atmosphere, so if it enters atmosphere the T/OT goes to zero
• Piloting skill bonus when in space, and penalty in atmosphere (it is designed for space operations, so no wings)
• Piloting skill roll to get 1-3 free facing changes at the start of the firing phase (it is designed for space operations, and I liked Babylon 5's Starfury maneuvers)
• Larger fuel fraction as part of its design (since it will be in space more often)
• Maybe a quarter ton allocated to Portable Life Support systems, just in case?[/url]
• More energy weapons than normal, to extend their endurance

[Daryk]

Without rules tweaks:

1) MAX armor
2) EXTRA fuel
3) ALL energy weapons (Blazer Cannons or HPPCs when they're available)
4) POINT DEFENSES (preferably Small Lasers, in pairs of course)

[Taron Storm]

Must have the Atmospheric Flight Instability Quirk or the Un-streamlined Quirk.

The Atmospheric Flight Instability Quirk indicates that the affected aerospace unit is unstable when flying within the atmosphere of a planet and suffers a penalty to any control rolls made

Units designed as having the Un-streamlined Quirk cannot enter or operate in an atmosphere. Should such a unit do so accidentally, it is treated as if it were a JumpShip or destroyed

In space, it can be any shape you want, within reason. Sphere or brick would work. Ugly as can be too 

[Red Pins]

Damn it, CS, is like you read my mind or something.  Can I offer a sub 500tons DS?

[Cannonshop]

Damn it, CS, is like you read my mind or something.  Can I offer a sub 500tons DS?

if you think it'll work.

[Red Pins]

I would really like to make a P-Dropship, as absolutely minimal as possible.  I think I goofed on the HS, but this is the basic idea.  Essentially, it looks like a sunflower seed.  Shrouded engine ports, matte black - everything cheap, but no ECM.  All because the Marian Hegemony only produces a single ASF class by 3150, and they need SOMETHING.

Ideally, since it has no jump collar or boom, they could be transported on large, Jump-capable stations to reach a target system, where they are transferred to a more economical 'forward base'.  There are only 5 Steerage bunks, but since this is a limited duration craft, the expectation is they board, fight, and return and hot-bunk if they need to stay on station for 1-2 days.

Think I overdid the AMS ammo, too.

New Hegemony P-Corvette Dropship
Type: Military Aerodyne
Mass: 500 tons
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Standard)
Introduced: 3162
Mass: 500
Battle Value: 2,755
Tech Rating/Availability: E/X-X-X-X
Cost: 114,230,160 C-bills

Fuel: 15 tons (1,050)
Safe Thrust: 3
Maximum Thrust: 5
Heat Sinks: 0
Structural Integrity: 12

Armor
    Nose: 138
    Sides: 118/118
    Aft: 96

Cargo
    Bay 1:  BattleArmor (IS) (1)    1 Door   
    Bay 2:  BattleArmor (IS) (1)    1 Door   
    Bay 3:  Cargo (3.0 tons)        0 Doors   

Ammunition:
    96 rounds of Anti-Missile System [IS] ammunition (4 tons),
    10 rounds of Piranha ammunition (10 tons)

Escape Pods: 0
Life Boats: 0
Crew:  5 enlisted/non-rated, 6 gunners, 12 bay personnel      

Notes: Mounts 40 tons of primitive aerospace armor.

Weapons:                                       Capital Attack Values (Standard)
Arc (Heat)                                 Heat  SRV     MRV     LRV     ERV   Class       
Nose (10 Heat)
1 Sub-Capital Missile Launcher (Piranha)    9   3(30)   3(30)   3(30)    0(0)  Sub-Capital Missile
    Piranha Ammo (10 shots)
1 Anti-Missile System                       1    0(3)    0(0)    0(0)    0(0)  AMS         
    Anti-Missile System Ammo [IS] (288 shots)
RW/LW (1 Heat)
1 Anti-Missile System                       1    0(3)    0(0)    0(0)    0(0)  AMS         
    Anti-Missile System Ammo [IS] (288 shots)
Aft (1 Heat)
1 Anti-Missile System                       1    0(3)    0(0)    0(0)    0(0)  AMS         
    Anti-Missile System Ammo [IS] (288 shots)