Su-135 Egret

The Su-135 "Egret" All-Condition Fighter-Bomber is the primary fighter class spacecraft of the Imperial Tekkelien Navy. As one of the largest and most survivable fighter craft in service for any nation, it is exceptionally well suited for close air support and maritime strike missions. Termed "All-Condition" for its ability to operate in space and in atmosphere, in any weather and day or night, it is powered by a miniaturized liquid metal reactor with enough power to sustain twin plasma turbines at speeds over mach 2.

Design
The fighter-bomber is designed as a mutlirole fighter capable of performing virtually any mission, but it excels at the delivery of high yield strike payloads whether against ground or naval targets. Their primary built-in weapon is the Centennial 30mm Autocannon. The rifled gun utilizes an electrically-powered revolver system feeding a single, long barrel. The cannon is effective against enemy fighters, lightly armored naval subsystems and ground targets. It can fire a number of rounds including high-explosive, incendiary, and armor-piercing. Armor-piercing 30mm shells are fired with enough kinetic energy to disable vehicles as strong as light tanks. The rapid rate of fire can cover a large area quickly.

The most advanced electronics on board are dedicated to the bomb computer, due to the Empire's affinity for low-cost freefall bombs. Due to improvements in explosive chemistry, a 29th century 500lb bomb is as effective as a bomb twice as large from the 21st century. The inertial bomb trajectory calculator makes extremely precise target predictions based on the weather conditions, speed and altitude. An Egret can drop an unguided bomb within a 500-foot diameter from a 65,000-foot altitude--the upper boundary of Earth's stratosphere, and a 100-foot diameter from 25,000 feet. For danger close support, where friendly units are within 500 yards, Egrets can be equipped with precision guided munitions as well, ranging from simple fin-guided freefall bombs to rocket-propelled glide bombs.

The internal storage of conventional bombs are too small for one Egret or even a squadron to make a difference on the enemy's strategic warfighting production such as factories and infrastructure, however they can also carry nuclear or even antimatter weapons capable of levelling cities or entire regions.

Safety Features
Due to the Empire's extensive use of close air support, Egrets are armored to protect against ground fire when making low passes against anti-aircraft guns or even small arms. Even most man-portable missiles are insufficient to disable it in any quantity it would be exposed to during an attack run.

Most of the airframe is constructed from very rugged Eklesian Steel to withstand tremendous aerodynamic forces at high speeds, which by itself already serves as armor. The pilot and bombardier are further protected within the cockpit's composite steel "bathtub." The cockpit tub is lined with ballistic fiber to catch fragments from the hard armor plate.

Egrets have zero-point ejection systems for all three of the flight crew, meaning all three can be safely ejected on the ground at zero speed. However, there have been times where the ejection mechanism was damaged by shrapnel, trapping the crew inside. This happened once to Tia Epstein's Egret during the Battle of the Icebox.

Space Superiority
The Egrets first job when departing from a carrier in orbit is always to ensure that the fleet is protected against enemy fighters. Enemy fighters are capable of disabling the carrier's flight deck and shooting down transports landing troops to the surface. Since Egrets are capable but not optimized for space superiority, they work alongside Kingfisher interceptors in fighter battles. Imperial Navy doctrine calls for the coordinated fire of anti-aircraft ships or regular combatants like cruisers and destroyers to assist their fighters, although friendly fire is a major issue with this tactic.

Egrets are some of the least maneuverable mainline fighters in service with any country. They have a rear turret to compensate and force the enemy to keep moving, but they must rely on "high-side passing" tactics. Egret dogfighting is done to avoid turn-fighting at all costs, instead repeatedly disengaging and intercepting the enemy in a series of fast, straight passes, inflicting as much damage as possible at the brief moment the enemy is in their sights. This only works because Egrets are faster, have a higher damage output, and are generally more survivable than their counterparts.

Naval Bombing
Fighters are no longer capable of single-handedly destroying enemy capital ships due to advances in armor and anti-fighter systems. However, they still play a vital role in the outcome of naval battles between fleets of starships. Egrets are capable of destroying small craft all the way up to large frigates by themselves, depriving the enemy of escort ships. On larger ships, they can blind them by taking out inherently vulnerable sensors, or cripple them by targeting the engine nozzles. Although warships' main guns are typically too well-armored to disable, secondary guns and missile launchers can be destroyed, reducing the overall volume of incoming enemy fire.

Occasionally, a lucky hit can disable a key part of the ship, such as secondary gun ports or other openings in the hull. This was particularly useful against Aradynic command ships, whose central antennae could be destroyed in order to cut all communications with their high command.

The most common tactic Egret pilots use in space is "trajectory bombing." Similar in principle to dive-bombing, they aim their fighter on a predicted collision course with an enemy ship, release their bombs and pull away. The bomb in space continues on its constant trajectory until it impacts the ship. There is no required guidance system other than prediction and a timed fuse.

Close Air Support
Arguably the fighter-bombers' most famous role, the Egrets' high payload and armor allows them to inflict mass casualties on enemy forces. Collateral damage is a major issue due to the liberal use of heavy bombs on suspected enemy positions. The Tekkelien Ministry of Defense tolerates a higher level of civilian casualties than most nations to prioritize friendly lives.

Strafing is the preferred method of precision CAS, but it requires extremely low approaches that bring the craft within range of even small arms like light machine guns. If anti-aircraft weapons are even suspected to be in the area, Egret pilots will generally opt for a high or medium-altitude bombing instead.

While the Navy at large would much prefer to move a frigate or destroyer into atmosphere and use its magnetic artillery, a starship is an exponentially bigger, slower and more vulnerable target. They stand out extremely conspicuously in the air even compared to oceangoing ships. Typically, naval gunfire is not employed until all anti-ship weapons in the area have been neutralized by land and air elements. Naval gunfire from orbit is not accurate enough to be useful.

Air Interdiction
Because Egrets are so much smaller than strategic bombers and starships, they can deliver a lighter payload much deeper into enemy territory with great precision. Interdiction missions behind enemy lines are essential for disrupting the enemy's supply chain and command staff. They can even eliminate reinforcements before they arrive. Egrets are most effective against small or grouped targets such as a supply convoy, general's bunker or artillery base. A single strafing run is usually sufficient to destroy a convoy of 20 vehicles, assuming they do not receive advanced warning and scatter.

Since enemy territory is usually covered by the most air defenses, Egrets must be escorted by a modified version of their class called Corvids. The Corvid Electronic Warfare Craft specializes in jamming radars and destroying air defenses from a standoff distance.