AB-18C Raubvogel - 45t, Handbook: House Steiner
Originally posted 11 Jan. 2006. All proposed fan-variants should be posted in the corresponding “FotW Workshop†thread. With only a picture and less than a column of text to describe and distinguish it, it takes a certain amount of close inspection to quantify this conventional fighter. Nonetheless, as “the current incarnation of one of the most popular conventional combat aircraft†in the Lyran Alliance and its former FedCom partner the FedSuns, the
Raubvogel would seem to merit that close look.
Now, between the ‘current incarnation’ line and the forty-five-ton ‘clean’ takeoff weight, it’d be hard to call the
Raubvogel anything other than a relative of the Meteor Heavy Strike Fighter... and I’m not sure you’d want to try, anyway, especially since their tactical niches would seem to be about the same.
On the other hand, it seems that some of the designers were working at cross-purposes when they started attaching wings and feathers and talons to this ‘bird of prey’. On the one hand, at 4/6 the heavy 180 Turbine engine speaks to a desire to reduce per-unit purchase costs by not using a Fusion powerplant as found in the HSF; on the other, I’m certain that
deathshadow and other aviation-experienced types here will quickly tell you that providing such an ICE engine with fuel would create fairly steep per-unit
operating costs, even with only two tons of fuel providing as much endurance as an ASF with four tons of gas. (In the right (wrong) circumstances, sufficient aviation spirit to operate an AB-18C for five years would more than make up the difference in cost for an SFE - especially since the fusion powerplant’s ‘diatomic hydrogen’ fuel-costs are apparently quite close to negligible! ::) )
This split-personality also seems to apply to the type’s armament and defences. On the one hand, a large laser provides the AB-18C with Strafing capability and a Medium-range weapon that doesn’t spend anything on ammunition; on the other, counting the eight heat-sinks and half-ton of power-amps it mandates, the weapon’s effective weight is such that one can argue it’s not really a great bargain (at least in a tactical sense). The Streak-4 missile racks in each wing, sharing a single ton of ammo, spend twice as much per salvo fired as standard SRMs, but the difference could easily be made up by the system’s ammo-conservation on non-lock shots, so one might also consider
that a frugality measure. The SRM-2 in the nose is almost certainly meant to load Inferno rounds for anti-vehicle work, and OSK-capability against systems like
Ajax OmniTanks is worth the cash outlay for ammo (at least, under pre-TW rules). But look at the armour: two tons, 10/9/8 - meaning it has to be
ferro-aluminium armour for the numbers to work. The Lyrans seemed to be going out of their way to avoid too much up-front per-unit expense... then they go and use the more-spendy FA armour? ??? Admittedly, it’s not a
drastic addition to the per-unit price, but for a design that seemingly sets out to be cost-conscious at every turn, it’s a little odd; the effective increase in protection over a similar tonnage of standard armour is more psychosomatic than effective.... ::)
Nonetheless, the AB-18C
Raubvogel has been built in respectable numbers and features prominently in the second-line inventories of both the LyrAll and the FedSuns.
Now, the fluff on the
Raubvogel explicitly mentions that it is favoured as a ‘precision bomber’, using its maximum 3/5 external warload of five tons to mount a TAG unit for target designation and carry four laser-guided bombs for hitting point targets. Not a very bad idea, at that, but it does assume a very permissive air-defence environment... though come to think of it, with that sort of armour and performance curve and bearing in mind
certain tactical fundamentals, highly-permissive ADA environments are about the only kind that the
Raubvogel is really suited to in the first place. Bait enemy ASFs and other defending assets away with dummy attacks or dogfighter ASFs, then send the AB-18Cs after a given target, routing them well-clear of any concentrations of ground-fire that aren’t directly defending their briefed objective, then bringing them all together in a time-on-target strike against that one key point. I don’t care who you are: catching eight LGBs in your ear
hurts.
Defensively, you need to screen vital points with a decent assortment of SPAAGs or missile-boats, and preferably a couple of lances/Points of interceptor ASFs as well, to prevent such an occurrence. Be wary of the feints I mention above, but don’t let them paralyse you; remember, Murphy tells us that the ‘diversion’ you’re ignoring is often the enemy’s
real attack. ::) Given that every single section of an AB-18C is vulnerable to Threshold TACs from single, lowly SRMs, spacing a platoon or two of vehicles like Pike SPAAGs or Light SRM Carriers around the likely target(s) (HQs, supply depots/transfer points and/or forward repair bases) will do wonders to clear your skies and empty chairs in the other guy’s briefing-rooms. }:)
[VARIANT PROPOSAL(S) REDACTED] All proposed fan-variants - including my own - belong in the corresponding “FotW Workshop†thread: http://www.classicbattletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,4086.0.html Now, being that the
Raubvogel is a conventional fighter, rather than a ‘sexy’ ASF, I’d imagine fewer people have ‘live’ experience with it... but if you’re among that handful, we’d welcome your input. ;)
Be advised: the attached .txt transcript(s) of previous run(s) of this thread may contain numerous reader-proposals for variants. I’ll try to change those out for ‘sanitised’ versions of those threads when I can, but I can’t promise it’ll be soon - that’s a lot of ground to cover. ;)
