Lightning (Aerospace Fighter)

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Lightning
Production information
Manufacturer Tengo Aerospace
HildCo Interplanetary
Lockheed/CBM Corporation
United Outworlders Corporation
Model LTN-G15
Class Medium
Tech Base Inner Sphere
Introduced 2465
Technical specifications
Mass 50 tons
Frame Hildco Aerospace Type 4
Power Plant GM 200
Armament

1 x AC/20
4 x Medium Lasers

Communications System Endicott Type 22 Master
Tracking & Targeting System Dwyerson Mark XI
Heat Sinks 13
BV (1.0)  ???
BV (2.0) 1,057



This article is about the AeroSpace Fighter. For the SLDF Hovercraft, see Lightning (Combat Vehicle).


Contents

[edit] Description

Built around large bore autocannons, the venerable Lightning is well admired for its speed and armor as well.

After reverse engineering the Terran Hegemony's brand new AC/10, the Capellan Confederation began a crash program to develop a AeroSpace Fighter to carry it. The resulting Lightning was well received, until the ever advancing pace of military technology left it behind.

The Lightning received a new lease of life when the Lyran Commonwealth developed the mammoth AC/20, with Tengo Aerospace reworking the venerable design to include the new weapon along with ten and a half tons of BattleMech class armor and a more efficient GM Fusion Engine in 2511.

Unfortunately Tengo's hopes for renewed sales were dashed when the CCAF chose to go with Mujika Aerospace Technologies' cheaper knock-off of the Lightning, the Transit, instead. Desperate to survive, Tengo illegally sold the design to Lyran and Davion manufacturers, with the fighter slowly spreading across the Inner Sphere and ensuring its survival in the Succession Wars.

[edit] Armament

Built around the massive Luxor Heavy 20 Autocannon, the Lightning is to be feared at short range. Unfortunately its only other weapons are four Diverse Optics II Medium Lasers, two to each wing, leaving the design relatively short-ranged, relying on it speed and armor holding out to get into a position of advantage.

[edit] Variants

  • LTN-G14 - The original Lightning model, this mounted a AC/10 along with the four medium lasers and featured more primitive armor and engines.
  • LTN-16L - A modern upgrade developed in House Liao space, the 16L uses Ferro-Aluminum armor and Double Heat Sinks to free up space for an Ultra AC/20 and ER Medium Lasers.
  • LTN-16T - A upgrade developed for the Taurian Concordat, the 16T also uses Ferro-Aluminum armor and double heat sinks to free up weight for an imported Targeting Computer and extended range lasers.
  • LTN-16O - Developed in the Outworlds Alliance, the upgraded 16O retains the armor of the original but replaces the weapons with LB 20-X AC and a trio of ER Small Lasers on each wing.
  • LTN-G16D - A more radical update developed in the Federated Suns, the G16D features the Ferro-Alumunim armor and double heat sinks of the other recent upgrades, but also includes an XL Engine to free up space for a pair of Rotary AC/5s in the nose and a Medium Pulse Laser to each wing alongside the now upgraded ER mediums.
  • LTN-G16S - Another more expensive and radical updating, the Lyran's G16S features double heat sinks, a Light Fusion Engine and Heavy Ferro-Aluminum armor to boost protection and free up weight for a Heavy Gauss Rifle in the nose, and four extended range small and medium lasers on the wings.

[edit] Notes

The Lightning was introduced in AeroTech 1st edition as one of the six original designs, with no model number, release date, or 'fluff', finally getting fully stated with TRO:3075.

[edit] References

Retrieved from "http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Lightning_(Aerospace_Fighter)"