AtB-100 "Hagraven"
The AtB-100 "Hagraven" is a re-entry capable superheavy atmospheric gunship built by Sialumh Heavy Industries designed to intercept and destroy armoured trains and large vessels. While originally commissioned by the Nova Compact in support of planned militarised reclamation efforts in 2430, the political backlash against the plan meant that very few were actually purchased by the Nova Compact Star Fleet. However, Sialumh was able to sell a significant fraction of the original order to Unified Planetary Defenses, many of whom were able to repurpose the ship as an atmospheric transport and electronic warfare platform. The design later caught the attention of the Itarana Confederation, who bought the type's original configuration in large numbers before its collapse. Buoyed by these early successes the company continued production; later variants proved extremely popular amongst both planetary defense forces contending with pirate activity, and the pirates themselves.
Design
Overview
The AtB-100 is an automated, shieldless aircraft carrying a primitive, but effective multimodal neural network avionics package capable of responding to and compensating for extreme weather conditions and extensive battle damage. Later variants intended for operation outside the context of large planetary conflicts often sacraficed some armament load for a notoriously minimalist crew compartment to improve tactical flexibility and responsiveness in small-scale operations. Inexpensive and designed to be capable of operating anywhere from terrestrial planets to gas giant interiors, it carries a number of redundant systems allowing optimal operation, even with the aircraft's relatively modest 2.5 MW primary fusion plant.
Taking on the profile of a large semicircle split down the middle, the AtB-100's aerodynamic properties are not by themselves especially conducive to flight - rather, the design has been built with structural integrity as the first priority. Each wing is embedded with a large, shrapnel-resistant multi-prop rotor 20.5m in diameter, allowing it to maintain lift and attitude control at speeds well below the stall speeds of most other heavy aircraft; paired with its internal plasma jet systems and existing aerodynamic properties, the AtB-100 has been known to continue flying with up to half of its considerable mass removed by anti-ship weaponry.
The AtB-100 in its primary configuration carries six coil-assisted 750mm bomb chutes on large ball turrets, each capable of delivering 1,100 kg armour-piercing bombs at up to 290 m/s. Combined with the aircraft's elevated position and cruising speed of Mach 1.4 at galactic standard atmospheric conditions, this grants it a considerable effective range; being on the underside of the aircraft, however, it is incapable of indirect fire missions and cannot easily engage high-altitude targets. The robust structural design and modularity of the airframe makes the AtB-100 more than suitable for refits however, and instances of AtB-100 units mounted with high-recoil anti-ship weapons, indirect fire artillery, anti-aircraft fortress turrets, and cruise missiles have been known to operate in a number of theatres.
Variants
AtB-100 s.SHI mod.2433
LxWxH: 87.5x104x8m
Mass: 1272.2 tonnes, unloaded
Cruise Speed: 476.8 m/s (1 bar) - 104.7 m/s (5 bar)
Power Plant:
- 2540 kW Sialumh ModuCR-24.50 fusion reactor
- 6x1225 MJ (22500 kW) Ener Mod.H chemical power bank
Armament:
- 6x750mm MC-1240 coil-assisted siege mortar
Development Controversy
The NCSF request for proposal which became the AtB-100 was issued while the Terrestrial Offensive Authorization was still being debated in the Compact Congress. Although the design was funded by already-approved spending packages, the fleet’s move to procure craft for planetary invasion before official planning had been authorized caused an uproar among anti-war factions in the Compact. While the impact of the controversy on the rejection of the offensive authorization bill is debated, it did lead to a tightening of restrictions placed on the Fleet’s ability to issue development contracts and the cancellation of most of the original order of the type. The autonomous avionics system developed for the Hagraven did see widespread service with the NCSF during its later modernizations which significantly expanded the use of autonomous vehicles in the fleet.
