Grand Admiral, First Order Central Command
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
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Image Source: [Star Citizen Concept Art]
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Primary Source: AGM-88 HARM
PRODUCTION INFORMATION
Manufacturer: First Order Naval Engineering
Affiliation: The First Order
Model: SGM-114 'Retaliator' Anti-Radiation Missile
Production: Minor
Material: Missile Components, Explodey Stuff
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Classification: Anti-Radiation/SEAD Missile
Size: Large
Weight: Heavy
Explosive Type: Primary ISBU-37D Warhead (199kg Baradioxozoaisowurtzinhexitane BDZH Explosive), Secondary (Precursor) Ionite Warhead
Delivery Method: Self Propelled
Effective Range: Long Range
Area of Effect: Average
Stopping Power: Very High
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Precursor Ionite Mini-Missile
- ECCM Suite
- Radiation Homing
STRENGTHS
- Anti-Countermeasure: The SGM-114 has a number of features to enable it to defeat defensive systems and equipment. On a basic level, the precursor warhead can punch a hole in shields to allow the main missile through. It is also capable of acting as a decoy, drawing the attention of other interceptor missiles. The precursor warhead can also detonate early, disabling incoming missiles or strike craft and allowing the primary weapon past a defensive screen.
- Low-Profile: While not a stealthy missile per se, the Retaliator is designed to be hard to detect with conventional sensors, giving the target less reaction time than average for a missile.
- Durable and Powerful: Everything else aside, the Retaliator is designed as an armor-penetrating munition. While not strictly a 'bunker buster,' it is a tough missile with a high yield.
WEAKNESSES
- Abnormal Size: The Retaliator is incompatible with most 'standard warhead launchers' and requires both specialized launching equipment and specialized targeting systems to be used effectively. If this weapon system is indicated to be used in a missile launcher, that launcher CANNOT fire any other sort of missile.
- Stay on Target: To fully utilize all the advanced systems on the missile, the firing unit must be able to maintain a target lock for the entire flight of the weapon up until terminal homing. For craft specifically designed for this task, this isn't too hard. On the other hand, for high speed strikecraft that have the SGM-114 as a mission addon, this can be a dubious proposition. It also means it has a hard time tracking extremely maneuverable targets in general.
- Limited AOE: The Retaliator is not designed as an area bombardment weapon. It is a precision strike missile, and performs poorly outside its dedicated role.
DESCRIPTION
The SGM-114 Retaliator is a large, advanced missile specifically designed to track, target, and eliminate point defense systems, missile launchers, and generally suppress and disable both terrestrial and celestial anti-air defense systems. By far the most unusual feature of the Retaliation is the small, short-ranged high-speed precursor Ion Torpedo that is utilized to disable, distract, or act as a decoy for defensive systems on the target, enabling the larger BDZH warhead to eliminate it.
Designed alongside the E/A-9B 'Prowler' Electronic Warfare Fighter, the Retaliator was subsequently adapted for wider deployment. It remains a specialized weapon that requires unique and unusual systems to be used effectively, however, and is not compatible with common missile launching systems. Larger than most conventional strikecraft-launched weapons, the Retaliator is powered by a tiny solid hypermatter booster that accelerates the weapon to extremely high speeds immediately after launch with a short burn. It subsequently uses several small directional ion thrusters and low-yield chemical verniers for maneuvering. After the initial hypermatter burn, the weapon is fairly low profile, and it has a higher time-to-detect than most conventional missiles, but as a consequence is not as maneuverable or able to redirect targets as them either.
A neuranium armor piercing nosecone encases the primary seeker. Behind this is the two-stage 199kg Baradioxozoaisowurtzinhexitane (BDZH) warhead, with a ring-laser detonator that gives it quite literally lightspeed precision (as far as the weapon knowing when to trigger its explosive). The third section of the missile consists of the droid brain and computer processor, followed by the transceiver set that communicates with the launching or targeting unit. Finally there is the primarily propulsion and solid hypermatter booster.
While the Retaliator works perfectly well as a conventional guided munition, it is expressly designed to home in on hostile anti-missile and anti-strikecraft systems, defeat inbound defensive measures, and eliminate said systems. The seeker process is complex and uses both internal (in the missile) and external (part of the firing unit) systems, but at its core it homes in on incoming targeting frequencies and follows down that line of bearing to the hostile transmitter. It is a specialized SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) weapon, and performs equally well in atmosphere or in space, against fixed turrets on ships, against mobile batteries on land, or even against large, slower strikecraft and strategic-sized missiles. The weapon is also extremely effective against dedicated sensor systems, which is often just as worthwhile, if not more so, than targeting weapons systems.
By far the most unusual thing about the SGM-114 is the presence of a small 'precursor' missile. This is a high speed, short-ranged, ionite warhead that launches off the Retaliator as the missile closes in to terminal homing, flying out ahead of the main weapon to disable shields, confuse ECM, distract secondary defense systems, or act as a decoy for active countermeasure systems. While incredibly effective, it does not operate independently of the main weapon, and if the Retaliator is eliminated before closing to terminal range it is essentially like any other warhead (albeit faster and tougher.)
The two-stage warhead and neuranium armor-piercing core allow the missile to penetrate inside the target before detonating, giving it an extremely high probability of kill against most turrets, missile batteries, and so on. The explosion, while extremely powerful, is very localized, and has a small area of effect. In other words, it does not inflicit significant structural damage to a large target beyond the likelihood of crippiling the specific piece of equipment it is firing at.
Expense and the difficulty of utilizing the Retaliator are the main things limiting its deployment across the First Order. It cannot be utilized in generic strikecraft launching systems at all, and requires special gear to retrofit it for use in capital ship launchers.
