The Bahamut is the largest Star League-era cargo hauling VTOL ever developed. Originally designed to haul extremely heavy bits of industrial machinery, the Bahamut is equipped with four heavy-duty cables capable that, when combined, can safely support a load of up to 1.2 Meganewtons. The no-nonsense cargo hauler is little more than a large 250 ICE turbine with a cockpit in the front, and could commonly be seen hovering about mega-engineering project construction sites back during the League's prime.
The fall of the star league and the havoc of the Succession Wars were not kind to the Bahamut. Once the vanity projects ceased, inventive VTOL pilots began using them to haul around highly dangerous war machines like assault 'Mechs and mobile Long Toms for surprise attacks from unexpected locations, which quickly grabbed the attention of the other side and saw them becoming high-priority targets. Despite its good speed for its size, its thin skin and no defensive armament left it as easy pickings for other VTOLs and aircraft, and the number of functional models dwindled to a few dozen within a few years.
With its original role as a mega-engineering companion completely defunct and without any feasible military upgrade paths available, the Bahamut factory was shut down very early in the Succession Wars. Ironically, this may have saved the design: with no perceived military value, the Bahamut factory was left completely unscathed.
Eventually, the factory was reactivated by the WoB to assist in construction of their own mega-engineering projects. The factory was kept running afterwards by the Republic of the Sphere and even had a new version introduced with a changed engine and stealth armor, and space for a light BA squad.
[b]Bahamut Superheavy VTOL ICE[/b]
Base Tech Level: Standard (IS)
Level Era
Experimental -
Advanced -
Standard 2700+
Tech Rating: E/C-C-C-C
Weight: 60 tons
BV: 188
Cost: 2,400,000 C-bills
Movement: 8/12 (VTOL)
Engine: 250 ICE
Internal: 30
Armor: 32
Internal Armor
Front 6 10
Right 6 7
Left 6 7
Rear 6 6
Rotor 6 2
Equipment Loc
Lift Hoist/Arresting Hoist RR
Lift Hoist/Arresting Hoist FR
Lift Hoist/Arresting Hoist LS
Lift Hoist/Arresting Hoist RS
[b]Bahamut Superheavy VTOL FCE[/b]
Base Tech Level: Standard (IS)
Level Era
Experimental -
Advanced 2700-3077
Standard 3078+
Tech Rating: E/C-D-D-C
Weight: 60 tons
BV: 196
Cost: 4,254,000 C-bills
Movement: 9/14 (VTOL)
Engine: 310 Fuel Cell
Internal: 30
Armor: 32
Internal Armor
Front 6 10
Right 6 7
Left 6 7
Rear 6 6
Rotor 6 2
Equipment Loc
Lift Hoist/Arresting Hoist FR
Lift Hoist/Arresting Hoist RS
Lift Hoist/Arresting Hoist LS
Lift Hoist/Arresting Hoist RR
[b]Bahamut Superheavy VTOL Infiltrator[/b]
Base Tech Level: Experimental (IS)
Level Era
Experimental 3080
Advanced 3080-3144
Standard 3145+
Tech Rating: E/X-X-F-E
Weight: 60 tons
BV: 397
Cost: 5,865,000 C-bills
Movement: 8/12 (VTOL)
Engine: 250
Internal: 30
Armor: 72 (Vehicular Stealth)
Internal Armor
Front 6 22
Right 6 18
Left 6 18
Rear 6 12
Rotor 6 2
Equipment Loc
Lift Hoist/Arresting Hoist RR
Lift Hoist/Arresting Hoist FR
Lift Hoist/Arresting Hoist LS
Lift Hoist/Arresting Hoist RS
ECM Suite (Guardian) BD
Vehicular Stealth BD
Carrying Capacity
Troops - 2.0 tons
