Freelance Traveller

designed by Peter Gray

Overview

The European Union Space Navy was created in 2024 CE (-2494 on the Third Imperium calendar) to counter the existence of American space warcraft. The German Daimler Group's Messerschmidt-Blohm-Bock subsidiary built its first warship a scant year later Originally it was intended to mirror the Daytona interceptor, being built around a pulse detonation engine. But American and European engine drive technology advancements resulted in its service being postponed for four more years. Finally, after a suitable fusion rocket became available, was the heavily modified craft, dubbed the Komet 2 after the rocket propelled WWII fighter, finally accepted into EUSN service.

Unlike the American Tonopah, contemporary and potential competitor, the Komet did not have an atmospheric transit drive, as the EUSN were building several orbital bases, in particular the St. Catherine habitat at the Terra-Luna L4 position. A fusion rocket was the sole means of propulsion, freeing up space otherwise taken up by a bulky jet or thermal engine. If they were to be launched from the surface, the EUSN piggybacked them, up to eight Komets at a time, on the lifting surfaces of their Sanger lift rockets. Their aerodynamic features were intended to aid gas giant refuelling, not to mention intimidate the less enlightened ground bound nations of the Third World and Pacific Rim. The listed length is actually the vessel's wingspan, tip to tip.

The ship were fitted with a 224 m³ weapons bay that usually carried first generation nuclear pumped X-Ray missles, guided by a pair of 120,000 km range MFDs. The ship's radical shape necessitated a radical internal layout. The vessel is bilevel. The bridge and main engineering sections inhabit the top deck, and are directly in tandem to each other. The crew quarters and life support plants are to both sides of this central compartment, taking up space in mid wing region. The weapons bay is directly below the flight deck, with access ports to aft and overhead. The main fuel tanks take up the remainder of the wings, and the space directly behind the weapon bay and beneath engineering.

The fighter had a radical appearance, a sweptback flying wing similiar to the ancient Horton Ho XIII (http://www.chez.com/lesovnis/aircraft/horten13.htm) produced for the German Luftwaffe during WWII. (The flying wing shape creates some complications in determining hit locations. Locations 1 and 20 are directly in line with each other, with 10 and 11 comprising the top and bottom of the craft. Locations 2-3 and 4-5 are the forward and aft wing "roots" respectively, while 6-9 and 12-19 move progressively farther down the wing, with even numbered locations along the leading edge, and odd numbered ones along the trailing edge)

General Data

Displacement:	75	Hull Armor:	20
Wingspan:	32.25 m	Volume:	1050 m3
Price:	MCr 124.0185	Target Size:	VS
Configuration:	Wedge AF	Tech Level:	9
Mass:	415.607 t loaded, 372.175 t empty

Engineering

Power Plant: TL-9 44 MW Fusion (One Year Duration) (25 MW/Hit)

G-Rating: 2G Fusion Rocket, No CG Lifters

G-Turns: 26 (11.67 m3 each)

Fuel Tankage: 303.34 m3+4.4 m3 for power plant

Maint: 10

Electronics

Computer: 2xTL-9Fb (0.5 MW)

Commo: 1000 AU Radio (20 MW), 2x1000 AU Maser (0.6 MW)

Avionics: Imaging Radar

Sensors: HRT 60,000 km (Range:2, 0.15 MW), Radar 60,000 km (Range:2, 6 MW)

ECM/ECCM: Stealth

Workstations: 6 Normal (Flight Deck)

Armament

Offensive: 224 m3 weapon bay (Loc:1, Arcs:Varies)

Defensive: Ditto

Fire Control: 2xTL-9 msl/bm MFDs (Range:4, -2 DMs, 1 Crew, 0.12 MW)

Accomodations

Life Support: Extended (0.075 MW), No environmental gravity

Crew: 8 (1 Maneuver, 2 Electronics, 1 Maintenance, 1 Engineering, 2 Gunnery, 1 Command)

Crew Accomodations: 4 Small Staterooms (Double Occupancy)

Airlocks: 2

Cargo: 21.89 m3, Small Cargo Hatch

Small Craft and Launch Facilities: None

Other Fittings: None

Features: Fuel Scoops (10%, 0.72 hours) 15.523 MW Surplus

System Damage Tables

PP:	1H	ELS:	1H
FR:	2H	MFD:	3h
LS:	2H	Rdr:	1H

Damage Location Table

Location	Surface	Internal
1	1-12:Ant	1-10:Elec, 11-20:Wpn Bay
2-3		1-15:Elec, 16-20:Qtrs
4-5		1-15:Wpn Bay, 16-20:Eng
6-7		Qtrs
8-9		1-15:Wpn Bay, 16-20:Eng
10	Ant	1-13:Elec, 14-20:Qtrs
11	Ant	1-15:Wpn Bay, 16-20:Hold
12-13		1-18:Hold, 19-20:Qtrs
14-15		1-18:Eng, 19-20:Hold
16-19		Hold
20		1-4:Elec, 5-20:Eng