defy the tyrannous stars
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To sub a less common shielded variant of the canon T-47 for use by the Galactic Alliance.
- Image Source: Star Wars Battlefront Promo Art
- Canon Link: Canon T-47 Airspeeder
- Restricted Missions:
- Primary Source: T-81 Airspeeder
- Manufacturer: Incom
- Model: Incom T-81/h Airspeeder
- Affiliation: Galactic Alliance
- Production: Minor
- Material: Durasteel hull
- Classification: Airspeeder
- Role: Aerial Assault/Anti-Armor
- Size: 8 meters
- Weight: High for an airspeeder
- Minimum Crew: 1
- Optimal Crew: 2 (Pilot and gunner)
- Propulsion: Repulsorlift
- Speed: Very Fast: 600 km/h
- Maneuverability: Moderate
- Armament: High
VT-Particle Gatling
2 Heavy Laser Cannons
1 Rear-facing blaster cannon - Defenses: Low: no shielding, light armor
- Squadron Count: 16
- Passenger Capacity: 0
- Cargo Capacity: 50kg
Ubrikkian Mo/Dk Energy Harpoon and Tow Cable
Standard Sensor Array
Standard Targeting Array
Standard Navigational Systems
Variant Subtypes
Snowspeeder: With frost resistant circuitry, additional thermal insulation, more powerful proximity sensors, and an enhanced internal heating system, the snowspeeder is ideal for operation in subzero temperatures and conditions of extreme wind and turbulence.
Swampspeeder: Includes flotation gear and water-tight seals, not a submersible craft in and of itself but specifically adapted for flying above and around the water, the swampspeeder can float on the surface of a body of most liquids for a short period and suffer very little in the way of damage to its systems.
Sandspeeder: Equipped with advanced filters to keep out sand and other particles, engine cooling units, and a long-range radar for navigating through sandstorms, like the snowspeeder this desert-adapted T-81/h variant is adept at flying through hazardous weather conditions and in extreme atmospheric environments.
Skyspeeder: With a pressurized cockpit and more powerful repulsorlifts for operation at higher altitudes, the skyspeeder is not spaceworthy but is designed to function effectively at the upper limits of a planetary atmosphere. This subtype is an effective flier in an area where normally both starfighters and more conventional airspeeders suffer serious drawbacks.
Strengths:
- Particle Gatling: Unlike its stock cousin the T-81, the T-81/h is designed specifically in mind to address the historic weakness that has long plagued the line of atmospheric interceptors, an inability to combat heavy armor. Eschewing more typical solutions for Vanir Technology's innovative particle rotary cannon, the airspeeder trades one explosive emplacement for a weapon cable of pumping out a high rate of fire and chewing through both shielding and even reinforced heavy durasteel.
- Adaptable: Coming in atmospheric variants for a variety of situations, given a week or so of retrofitting each T-81/h is able to be more or less retrofitted into a subtype most suitable for their assigned conditions.
- Lightly Armored: With the VT gatling's heavy power consumption the draws from the airspeeder's own generators, the limited shielding systems installed on the standard T-81 had to be removed in favor of the heavy weaponry. Stripping away even more of the airspeeder's armored underside to make room for the particle mounting, the addition of the new underslug cannon leaves the T-81/h even more vulnerable than its original precursor model, as well as rendering it more vulnerable to ground to air strikes.
- Exposed Stern: Still inherently based on a civilian model, the armor plating and screen projector strength covering the rear of the T-81/h is less protective. An accurately placed shot to the dead center of the craft can cause critical damage, even in some causes fatally wounding the rear gunner. Flown in larger squadrons, the airspeeder relies heavily on its wing mates to fend off interceptors in an effort counteract this flaw.
Satisfied with the operational record of Incom's updated T-81 airspeeder design, but looking for a heavy hitter in their atmospheric arsenal to accomplish what the civilian based model has long could not, the Galactic Alliance Armed Forces commissioned the primarily starfighter manufacturers to design a heavy weapon bearing variant of the stock T-81. Designated the T-81/h or T-81/heavy, the airspeeder remains remarkably similar on the exterior to the design of its updated cousin. Practically the only change in design was the decision to strip out the T-81's limited shield generators and more of the atmospheric fighter's underbelly armoring to make room for a Vanir Technologies Particle Gatling Cannon.
Capable of an extreme rate of fire, the VT-Particle Gatling is capable of, after sustained periods of fire, chewing through enemy shields and even ground based heavy armor. The caveat, of course, is that the Vanir design's inherent flaw of being limited to 10 second bursts before a 10 second cooldown means that the T-81/h would have to strafe a target in waves to penetrate the heaviest of armor, a tricky prospect for the already lightly hulled craft. Particularly considering the vulnerability to ground based strikes the new emplacement also provides.
