Deathstalker
Sarna News
| |
| F-77 Deathstalker | |
| Production information | |
| Manufacturer | Andurien AeroTech (FWDI) |
| Model | F-77 |
| Class | Heavy |
| Tech Base | Inner Sphere |
| Technical specifications | |
| Mass | 80 tons |
| Structural Integrity | |
| Frame | F-77/X |
| Power Plant | VOX 240a |
| Fuel | |
| Armament |
1 x AC/10 |
| Communications System | Telestar F-61 |
| Tracking & Targeting System | SynCom VAX |
| Heat Sinks | 25 [50] |
| BV (1.0) | 1,603 |
Contents
Description
Unveiled in 2744, the Deathstalker was a visionary concept with a then revolutionary forward swept wing design, however flaws in the cutting edge fighter led to a publicized crash of a prototype and the death of the design.
Originally developed by Andurien AeroTech, a division of Free Worlds Defense Industries as an experimental concept, the Deathstalker revisited a unorthodox and long forgotten concept of the swept wing. When properly applied, the alternate wing design produced both a remarkably stable flight profile and allowed the use of lighter and thinner materials, and led to its development as a full design. A powerful weapons array, twenty-five Double Heat Sinks and ten and half tons of armor made the Deathstalker a formidable foe in combat, but at the cost of speed. During trial flights the Deathstalker was repeatedly outmaneuvered by comparable SLDF and member state designs, though claiming a number of kills before it was defeated.
However the craft was ultimately doomed by a air frame weight imbalance between the wings and fuselage, this flaw devastatingly revealed during a much-publicized demonstration flight when the prototype crashed after one of it's wings suddenly tore off. The twenty Deathstalkers constructed were permanently grounded, never seeing live combat, but Andurien AeroTech remained convinced for the swept wing concept, leading to a massive redesign which ultimately result in the successful F-90 Stingray.
Armament
Intended for an air supremacy role, the Deathstalker carried a nose mounted Imperator X Autocannon/10 backed up by twin Hellion-a III ER Large Lasers in each wing. The large volume of double heat sinks carried allowed the fighter to fire its primary weapons at once, with two wing mounted Hellion-b Medium Lasers providing fallback firepower when cooling down.
Variants
None known