Piranha Mk I Drone Starfighter
Name/Type: Piranha Mk I Drone Starfighter
Designer/Manufacturer: Contegorian Confederation
Combat Role: Superiority/Interception
Crew: 0
Length: 4.0 Meters / W 2.07 / H 0.96
Speed: 115 MGLT, 1250 Kph
Acceleration: 22 MGLT/s
Maneuverability: 150 DPF
Hyperdrive: None.
Shield Rating: None.
Hull Rating: 25 RU
Weapons: 4 Blaster Cannons, 4 Hardpoints (4 Missiles / Munitions).
Countermeasures: Decoy Beam
Like its namesake, the Piranha Mk I Drone Fighter is designed to attack in large numbers to overwhelm opponents. Easily and cheaply manufactured from common materials and components at any one of the factory worlds within the Confederation. The droid fighter breaches the gap between traditional droid fighters like the Tie Drone and the recently popular swarm starfighters fielded by the major powers.
The diminutive fighter uses tried and true technology already widespread in either the Confederation military, or the galaxy at large. The brains of the craft are an Industrial Automadon Intellex X processor with Kashan-Uffel combat programming already utilized on the Paladin II droid. As such, each droid does not have the same programming and tends to learn, making it as difficult to trick or outsmart as an organic opponent. Unlike the Paladin II, the Piranha also uses the machine processing component of the OSAIA; allowing it to analyze and predict enemy movements and strategies and quickly calculate the best route to take. This all makes it one of the deadliest droid pilots in existence.
The craft is a relatively simple affair derived from Ter Abbes’ experience with New Republic Defender starfighters and the ATL interceptor series. Like those craft, it features two outrigger jets placed on either side and below the main fuselage. These jets provide the craft with its biggest asset: maneuverability. A Piranha can spin around 180 degrees mid-flight in the vacuum of space by simply firing one maneuvering jet forward and one backward. And because a droid’s reaction time is superior to that of most organics, Piranhas can simply dodge most attacks. However, because the engines are optimized for maneuverability, they lack speed, and as such, the Piranha is significantly slower than most modern-day droid starfighters.
The frame of the craft is constructed out of ferrocarbon and is armored in multiple Quadanium Carbide layers. Exactly the same as with the Paladin II. Besides providing reasonable energy resistance, the nonmetallic nature of the carbide gives it a low radar / Full Spectrum Transciever signature. This, with its small size, often makes it virtually undetectable at long range. The ship does not carry shields or a hyperdrive to lessen production costs and to make it lighter, but it does carry a decoy beam; a device used on Imperial starfighters during the Galactic Civil War. When activated, it emits a general energy field disruption that scrambles sensors and makes the craft temporary disappear from enemy sensor. The craft can still be spotted visually, however. Piranhas generally use it to throw off enemy warheads or to try and temporarily throw off an enemy pilot. It can be activated for twenty seconds before it requires a forty second recharge time.
The weapons of the droid fighter are fairly basic, consisting of a quartet of blaster cannons and four hardpoints for carrying missiles, bombs, or other explosive weapons, notably concussion and proton grenades. The blaster cannons are slightly underpowered compared to most starfighter weapons, but make up for that deficiency with an exceptionally high refire rate.
Because of their relatively low cost and maintenance combined with the ease in which they can be produced, Piranhas are expected to become a major contingent of the Confederation Starfighter Corps, perhaps up to 50% of all Confederate starfighter units.
Test Thread: Galleons of the Confederate Main