Light Fighter Hawk

[Primus203]

A new light fighter made for the thread https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=84546.30 before I post it there though wanted to give it it's own thread so you guys can poke at any obvious defects.

Hawk Light Fighter- Flexible Multi purpose 20 ton conventional fighter. 1.5 tons of fuel is enough for 120 turns at safe thrust on it's 5/8 engines. Cheap cost not including ammo is 216k ammo is actually a quarter of the loaded cost of 286k. Primary weapon is a pair of LRM 5 giving it the range to fight aerospace fighters as well as chip away at ground forces while holding range open to mitigate low armor. This is supplemented by a pair of RL-10
This unit used to have one more rocket launcher but this was removed along with half a ton of fuel to mount a single ton internal bomb bay. This unit has VSTOL capability. The bomb slot provides flexibility such as one in ten fighters carrying a light air to air missile. Which is the dangerous one they have to wonder.

Code: [Select]

Light Fighter Hawk

Mass: 20 tons
Frame: Unknown
Power Plant: 100 ICE
Armor: Standard
Armament:
     2 LRM 5
     2 Rocket Launcher 10
Manufacturer: Unknown
     Primary Factory: Unknown
Communication System: Unknown
Targeting & Tracking System: Unknown
Introduction Year: 3080
Tech Rating/Availability: D/X-X-C-C
Cost: 282,517 C-bills

Type: Light Fighter
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Standard)
Tonnage: 20
Battle Value: 239

Equipment                                          Mass
Engine                        100 ICE                 6
Safe Thrust: 5
Max Thrust: 8
Structural Integrity:         5                       
VSTOL Equipment:                                    1.0
Heat Sinks:                   0                       0
Fuel:                         240                   1.5
Cockpit                                               2
Armor Factor                  20                    1.5

                           Armor   
                           Value   
     Nose                    5     
     Wings                  5/5   
     Aft                     5     


Weapons
and Ammo               Location   Tonnage  Heat   SRV  MRV  LRV  ERV
2 LRM 5                  NOS       4.0      2      3    3    3    0 
2 Rocket Launcher 10     NOS       1.0      3      6    6    0    0 
LRM 5 Ammo (48)          FSLG      2.0      -      -    -    -    - 

Features the following design quirks: Atmospheric Flyer, Internal Bomb BayThought and things I can improve please.

[Daryk]

That's an awful lot of LRM ammo for something with 5 points of armor per face.  Might as well cut it in half and up the RL-10s to a third LRM-5.

[Primus203]

So I followed your advice daryk and that lowered loaded cost. Any other significant improvements I can make?

Code: [Select]

Light Fighter Hawk

Mass: 20 tons
Frame: Unknown
Power Plant: 100 ICE
Armor: Standard
Armament:
     3 LRM 5
Manufacturer: Unknown
     Primary Factory: Unknown
Communication System: Unknown
Targeting & Tracking System: Unknown
Introduction Year: 3080
Tech Rating/Availability: D/X-X-C-C
Cost: 249,517 C-bills

Type: Light Fighter
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Standard)
Tonnage: 20
Battle Value: 243

Equipment                                          Mass
Engine                        100 ICE                 6
Safe Thrust: 5
Max Thrust: 8
Structural Integrity:         5                       
VSTOL Equipment:                                    1.0
Heat Sinks:                   0                       0
Fuel:                         240                   1.5
Cockpit                                               2
Armor Factor                  20                    1.5

                           Armor   
                           Value   
     Nose                    5     
     Wings                  5/5   
     Aft                     5     


Weapons
and Ammo              Location   Tonnage  Heat   SRV  MRV  LRV  ERV
3 LRM 5                 NOS       6.0      2      3    3    3    0 
LRM 5 Ammo (24)         FSLG      1.0      -      -    -    -    - 

Features the following design quirks: Atmospheric Flyer, Internal Bomb Bay

[Daryk]

I think that's about as good as you can get that airframe. :)

[Lagrange]

You might take some of the aft armor and place it on the nose.  My expectation is that you'll be pointing the nose at the enemy, so you'll likely die via destruction of the nose armor, and then the structural integrity.  Shifting a little bit more armor forward likely makes it just a tad harder to kill.

[Dave Talley]

Hmm
Could drop the RLs, use the 2 tons for armor and one laser, a use for strafing and in case you get too close for the LRMs

[Primus203]

Dave this is a conventional fighter it cant carry more armor. Second a small laser would cost two tons one for a heatsink and one for the laser and amplifier. Lastly RL-10 and one ton of ammo were replaced with an extra LRM-5

[DevianID]

I think if you are going to make use of the internal bomb bay quirk, you should probably go all in to maximize the flexibility of the bay loadouts.  So instead of LRMs and a 1 ton bay, a 6 ton bay so you can mount more AA missiles or an anti-ship missile, or lots of bombs.  I do like the modern approach of a machine gun for ICE powered aircraft as a backup weapon.  This would make a 'F16' analog at the same 20 tons loaded weight, and the ability to do 6 internal RL10s/bombs+4 external for strike missions or 3 internal plus 2 wing AA missiles for interception roles.

If you dont use an internal bomb bay, thats when I like the LRM loadout to try and swarm larger craft at long range, as conventionals dont have the armor to muck about in protracted short range dogfights.  An important point is that, with a low thrust, you also have a very low SI, so you cant really push this fighter very hard... it likes flying in its comfort zone.  Its not a sprinter in other words, it will need time to build energy safely to avoid stress tests from the 5 SI.

[Primus203]

The bomb bay is for flexibility. Making the bay larger is not practical as the advanced munitions are not available in large numbers. the world is mainly a c tech meaning that the missiles for the bomb bay need to be imported. This means that to give them more missiles would be extremely painful especially when loosing one.

[DOC_Agren]

I like it, especially the bomb bay

reminds me of my Striking Cobra Light Attack and Recon Aircraft