Repost: Small Craft Bombers
Posted originally back in 2008 a couple site crashes ago. Rules have left these by the roadside, but I’m hoping they’ll still inspire someone to try something different for a change.
Criticisms and suggestions welcome.
~(*)~
During the initial stages of the First Succession War it became clear that Aerospace Fighters alone were not sufficient to deliver the volume of bombs needed to crack some of the most heavily fortified enemy positions and still maintain acceptable dogfighting capacity. Taking a cue from Earth history, all five Houses realized that dedicated bombers escorted by dedicated escort fighters were a reasonable solution to the problem. Nationalizing many small Small Craft factories in each realm allowed these new bombers to be produced without reducing fighter construction capacity further than was being reduced by the war.
Of these bombers, the largest were the Draconis Yuquiyú, the Lyran Thunaer and the Capellan Zhong-Liquan, all of which share some common features, including the capability of delivering a staggering 40 tons of ordnance and still maintain the capability of taking off under its own power. Once the warload has been delivered, these designs are capable of jaw-dropping acceleration in order to escape the battlezone.
Unfortunately, the Succession Wars were not kind to these bombers; practically incapable of defending themselves when en route to the target, too often they were left unprotected while their escorts tangled with the defenders or were sent unescorted into death zones, still, They (and their smaller "cousins", ranging in size from the 100-ton Davion Pikeman through to the 180-ton Marik B-78 Armageddon) were produced well into the Second Succession War, when the last factory (for the 140-ton Kurita Kagami) was bombed by the LCAF's 549th Skye Wing's remaining two Thunaers.
The Yuquiyú was the first one to be fielded and the most produced of the SW-era bombers. As with most similar units it uses practically no advanced materials in order to ease construction. Machine guns cover its entire aft area to protect from enemy fighters who got too close, but as these proved to be too unreliable, later versions (notably the N version produced on Pesht) removed the guns and the gunner's station equipment in favour of armour and extra cargo space.
Yuquiyú Strategic Bomber
200-ton Inner Sphere Aerodyne Small Craft
Engine: 130 tons
Safe Thrust: 10
Maximum Thrust: 15
Fuel: 2,000 pt. 25 tons
Heat Sinks: 2 (single) --
Sructural Integrity: 10 10 tons
Control: 1.5 tons
Armour: 96 pt. Standard 6 tons
Nose: 24 pt.
RW: 24 pt.
LW: 24 pt.
Aft: 24 pt.
Crew Quarters: 5 steerage 25 tons
Cargo: 0.5 tons
Weapons:
MG Aft 0.5 tons
MG RW(R) 0.5 tons
MG LW(R) 0.5 tons
Ammo: MG: 100 shots 0.5 tons
Total: 200 tons
Notes: 40 external ordnance pylons
Before the Thunaer was produced, the mainstay of the LCAF's bomber forces was the 170-ton Ragnarok, but its weak engine was never capable of fulfilling the full potential of the airframe. Captured Yuquiyús provided the design for a new engine that resulted in the Thunaer. Experience with the Ragnaroks resulted in a better armoured design with no weapons. The Thunaer was successful enough that the LCAF converted several Leopard CV's to carry four each. A force of four such CV task forces was attached to the LCS Invincible near the end of the First SW to destroy the Marik-held Dardellon VI SLDF naval yards; escorted by fighters from no fewer than than two brand new Vengance CVs, 16 Thunaers delivered over 100 nuclear missiles into the facilities, destroying them along with 8 FWLM warships. Never again would such force be used again; only three Thunaers returned from the mission, which also cost the Commonwealth two warships of their own, including the flagship Archon's Might.
Thunaer Strategic Bomber
200-ton Inner Sphere Aerodyne Small Craft
Engine: 130 tons
Safe Thrust: 10
Maximum Thrust: 15
Fuel: 1,920 pt. 24 tons
Heat Sinks: 2 (single) --
Sructural Integrity: 10 10 tons
Control: 1.5 tons
Armour: 192 pt. Standard 12 tons
Nose: 50 pt.
RW: 46 pt.
LW: 46 pt.
Aft: 50 pt.
Crew Quarters: 4 steerage 20 tons
Cargo: 2.5 tons
Weapons: (none)
Total: 200 tons
Notes: 40 external ordnance pylons
Developed independently of the Yuquiyú, the Zhong-Liquan shares many features with its Kuritan "cousin". Slightly better armoured, its biggest difference is not in its actual weapons, but in their arrangement, which places two of the lasers in forward-firing positions on the wings. The Zhong-Liquan has, in at least three occasions, been credited with dogfighting kills on light fighters when the fighters underestimated the maneuverability of the bombers. Never too numerous, few Zhong-Liquans survived the first war, but these were placed in mothballs rather than keeping them in service without replacement parts or scrapping them altogether. A cache of two was discovered in 3036 and were carefully studied by Capellan authorities. With the Chancellor's permission, a limited run of 6 bombers were built new as testbeds of new technology. Though two crashed during test flights (traced to substandard fuel-line components), the project was considered successful and the remaining four were soon joined by one of the two originals restored with new-built components. With the coming of the Clans, the five bombers were sent to the Draconis Combine, where they were used for strategic demolition work in places unreachable by combat engineers. Two were shot down by Smoke Jaguar fighters, but their performance was considered satisfactory. After the war, the three surviving bombers returned to the Confederation, to have their unit returned to reserve status. Soon, one of the bombers was cannibalized for parts in order to keep the other two functional.
Prior to the Jihad, the unit was striken from the CCAF roster, but after the start of the Jihad, when the CCAF sought to reactivate the unit, it was discovered that the entire unit had disappeared; bombers, personnel, parts and their Buccaneer transport had all disappeared from where they were supposed to be. Unconfirmed intelligence reports place the unit on the WoB side on various Lyran worlds, including Tharkad.
Zhong-Liquan Strategic Bomber
200-ton Inner Sphere Aerodyne Small Craft
Engine: 130 tons
Safe Thrust: 10
Maximum Thrust: 15
Fuel: 1,600 pt. 20 tons
Heat Sinks: 3 (single) 1 tons
Sructural Integrity: 10 10 tons
Control: 1.5 tons
Armour: 160 pt. Standard 10 tons
Nose: 40 pt.
RW: 40 pt.
LW: 40 pt.
Aft: 40 pt.
Crew Quarters: 5 steerage 25 tons
Cargo: 1.0 tons
Weapons:
Small Laser Aft 0.5 tons
Small Laser RW 0.5 tons
Small Laser LW 0.5 tons
Total: 200 tons
Notes: 40 external ordnance pylons
Let me just add... 40 loaded hardpoints and still maintain 2/3 thrust. That is 4 Alamo nuclear missiles, 8 Arrow IV missiles, 20 light Air-to-Air missiles or a whole dreckload of 10-point bombs or RL-10's.
Regarding RL-10's... a full volley of 40 of them will deliver 240 points of standard damage to a target (24 capital).
Ragnarock Strategic Bomber (Steiner)
170-ton Inner Sphere Aerodyne Small Craft
Tons
Thrust: 7/11 77.5
Control: 2
SI: 10 8.5
Fuel: 1,760 pt. 22
Cargo: 5
Crew Quarters: (4 steerage) 20
Armour: 184 pt. Standard 11.5
Nose 50
RW/LW 42
Aft 50
Heat Sinks: Single (9) 8
Weapons:
Large Laser (aft) 5
Small Laser (nose) 0.5
160
Version-specific equipment:
* A-C: Adds 7 SHS 7
Adds 2 ML (1 e/a wing) 2
Adds 1 SL (nose) 0.5
Adds 0.5 tons of cargo 0.5
170
* D: As C, but places the ML’s in the aft wings
* F: Adds 5 SHS 5
Adds 5 SL 2.5
(2 e/a wing aft, 1 nose)
Adds 2.5 tons of cargo 0.5
170
*G: Does not add additional weapons
Adds 64 pt. Armour 4
Nose 70
RW/LW 56
Aft 66
Adds 1 Jump Inf. Bay 6
170
*H: As C, with the following exceptions:
Adds configurable Inf. Bays:
2 Jump Bays 12
OR
2 Foot Bays 10
2 160 pt. fuel 2
Reduces Std. Cargo by –2
170
Notes:
* Can carry 30 tons of ordnance at 1/2, 25 at 2/3
* Oldest design; predates the fall of the League by 15 years
* Phased out of strategic role and converted to infantry
carriers with the introduction of the Thunaer bombers.
* Engine could not fully exploit the bomb-carrying potential
of the airframe.
B-78 Armaggeddon Strategic Bomber (Marik)
180-ton Inner Sphere Aerodyne Small Craft
Tons
Thrust: 9/14 105.5
Control: 1.5
SI: 10 9
Fuel: 1,920 pt. 24
Cargo: 1
Crew Quarters: (4 steerage) 20
Armour: 224 pt. Standard 14
Nose 60
RW/LW 54
Aft 56
Heat Sinks: Single (1) -
Weapons:
6 MG’s 5
(2 aft, 2 RWR, 2 LWR)
Ammo (MG): 400 2
180
Notes:
* Can carry 36 tons of ordnance at 1/2(35 at 2/3)
* B-78B replaces MG’s for 4 SRM-2’s sharing a ton
of ammo (1 nose, 1 aft, 1 RWR, 1 LWR).
Kagami Strategic Bomber (Kurita)
140-ton Inner Sphere Aerodyne Small Craft
Tons
Thrust: 8/12 73
Control: 1.5
SI: 10 7
Fuel: 1,600 pt. 20
Cargo: 1
Crew Quarters: (4 steerage) 20
Armour: 160 pt. Standard 10
Nose 40
RW/LW 40
Aft 40
Heat Sinks: Single (5) 4
Weapons:
1 MG w/ 100 shots (aft) 1
5 Small Lasers 2.5
(1 nose, 1 RW, 1 RWR, 1 LW, 1 LWR)
140
Notes:
* Can carry 28 tons of ordnance at 2/3
* Slow to build, DCMS preferred the larger Yuquiyú.
* Last Strategic Bomber manufactured in the Inner Sphere.
PK-106N Pikeman Strategic Bomber (Davion)
100-ton Inner Sphere Aerodyne Small Craft
Tons
Thrust: 7/11 45.5
Control: 1
SI: 10 5
Fuel: 1,200 pt. 15
Cargo: 1
Crew Quarters: (5 steerage) 25
Armour: 96 pt. Standard 6
Nose 30
RW/LW 22
Aft 22
Heat Sinks: Single (1) -
Weapons:
2 MG’s (aft) 1
Ammo (MG): 100 0.5
100
Notes:
* Can carry 20 tons of ordnance at 3/5
* Developed and first deployed during the Amaris War,
based on a failed fighter design.
* Made famous in the 2845 holovid drama “Phalanx of Gold”
* Standard doctrine has the Pikeman always carrying at
least two air-to-air missiles.
