Even though only lightly shielded and lightly armored, the Kilrathi Strakha stealth fighters was always greatly feared. This fear was generated by what was just the prototype of the fighter. Most of what was known about the fighter was just rumor with Confederation Navy command officially denying the existence of the fighter. As a resuly, one of the Confederations best pilots, Colonel Blair, was blamed for the destruction of his own carrier, the TCS Tiger Claw. It was not until 2667, when Colonel Blair was able to confirm the existence of the stealth fighter with data records from his fighter.

The Kilrathi military has now come up with an upgraded version of the fighter. Like the original version, its ability to cloak is what generates the most fear from Confederation pilots. One on one without its cloaking device, it is no match for most Confederation fighters. Still, it can be an extremely dangerous fighter and there is a report where a single Strakha stealth fighter took down four Hellcat V fighters from off the TCS Roosevelt in less than ten minutes. Compared to the original cloaking device, the more advanced model carried on the prototype model can operate for up to six hours before needing to be shut down.

The production model of the Strakha stealth fighter appears to share with the prototype model a relatively underpowered fusion reactor. As a result, the fighter has a relatively light energy battery consisting of two lasers and two mason cannons. This is a sizable upgrade from just a pair of laser cannons on the prototype but still is far lighter than even the energy weapon battery carried on the Confederation Arrow light starfighter. The production model also lacks hard points to carry anti-capital ship missiles. Some in Confederation intelligence believe that the missiles are simply too heavy for the fighter's frame. Instead, the production model had five hard points for long range missiles and a variety of lighter ordnance can be carried as well. For self defense, the fighter carries six missile decoys.

Fighter acceleration is increased greatly in the production model although the acceleration appears to be at the limits of the power plants output. As a result, the armor is actually slightly less than on the prototype model although the shields are about fifty percent greater than on the original model. As well, the fighter's frame is reinforced which equals out the loss of armor. Still, if a pilot finds himself in the gunsight of a Confederation fighter, there is little chance of survival. The shields have less than a third of the output of the generators on a Confederation Arrow class light fighter.

Notes of game conversion:

Because of the nature of the Video Game series "Wing Commander" and the needs to put the fighter into game mechanics, the fighter has several modification compared to the Video Game. The most important change it to change top speed to acceleration. Like fighters in Star Wars and original Battlestar Galactica, the fighters appear to act as if they are in the atmosphere even when they operating in space. This is incorrect. The Television series Babylon 5 and the new Battlestar Galactic are good series to watch to get a clearer idea on how space vehicles would probably maneuver although still not a perfect perspective. The fighter has been modified to uses my revised phase world starship rules and can hold their own against most C.A.F and Kreeghor fighters. See Revised Starship Rules for Phase World for more details.

Model Type: Strakha Stealth Starfighter (Prototype)
Vehicle Type: Medium Starfighter
Crew: One

M.D.C. By Location:

	Laser Cannons (2):	40 each
	Meson Cannons (2):	60 each
	Missile Hard Points (5):	10
	[1] Engines (2):	100 each
	Landing Struts (3):	10 each
	[2] Main Body:	220
	Reinforced Pilots Cockpit:	80
	[3] Variable Force Field:	60 per side (360 total)

Notes:
[1] Loss of an engine will reduce performance of fighter by one half and loss of two engines will prevent fighter from performing beyond 5% of normal (This is using maneuvering thrusters and gravitic propulsion). Due to gravitic propulsion systems, fighter will not crash in an atmosphere even if both engines are destroyed.
[2] Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will put the fighter out of commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support and internal gravity. The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating wreck. In an atmosphere, the fighter will crash
[3] Shields positions can be varied and all could be combined in one shield. Shields regenerate at the rate of 5% (18 M.D.C.) per melee.

Speed:
Driving on the Ground: Not Possible.
Sublight: Has a special sublight engine that allows the ship to travel up to 40 percent of the speed of light. Fighter can accelerate/decelerate at the rate of 0.88 percent of light per melee maximum. Fighter has auxiliary thrusters which can be used a maximum of 15 minutes before fuel is exhausted. On auxiliary thrusters, the fighter has a maximum acceleration of 1.6 percent of light per melee maximum.
Atmospheric Propulsion: The fighter is fairly aerodynamic and is quite capable in an atmosphere. As a result, the fighter can achieve escape velocity (Mach 32.6 / 25,053 mph / 40,320 kph) but normally operates at Mach 3.85 (2,858.31 mph / 4,600 kph) or less. The fighter also has Gravitic propulsion systems enabling it to leave an atmosphere even at low velocities.
Maximum Range: Effectively unlimited by internal fuel (10 year duration) although auxiliary thruster range is limited to approximately 15 minutes. Fighter uses a very small fusion cell system for power systems. The fighter carries one week of consumables for fighter's crew.

Statistical Data:
Length: 98.43 feet (30.0 meters)
Height: 60.37 feet (18.4 meters)
Width: 113.19 feet (34.5 meters)
Weight: 17.64 tons (16 metric tons) unloaded
Power System: Fusion power supply with a 10 year duration.
Cargo: Small Storage Space, 1.5 ft x 1.5 ft x 2 ft. Used for emergency equipment and weapons.
Market Cost: 50.6 million credits

WEAPON SYSTEMS:

1. Dual Laser Cannons: These cannons are mounted on the wings of the starfighter. While extremely long ranged, the damage of the weapons is less than most other Confederation and Kilrathi weapons. When compared to Phase World weaponry, the lasers inflict less damage than those on most C.A.F. Starfighters but have a much longer range. The cannons can be fire individually or in pairs.
   Maximum Effective Range: 3,106.8 miles (5,000 km) in space and 15.5 miles (25 km) in an atmosphere.
   Mega Damage: 1D6x10 per cannon and 2D6x10 for both cannons (Combined with mason cannons, inflicts 6D6x10)
   Rate of Fire: Equal to pilots hand to hand (Usually 4 or 5).
   Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
2. Twin Mason Cannons: These cannons are mounted on the sides of the starfighter. Weapon system has good range and inflicts good damage. The main weakness of the weapons is that they have limited range within an atmosphere. The weapon inflict about equal damage to most energy weapons carried on most C.A.F. Starfighters and have a much longer range than most fighter weapons in the Three Galaxies. Mason cannons can be combined with other guns for greater damage.
   Maximum Effective Range: 2,796.2 miles (4,500 km) in space and 7.0 miles (11.25 km) in an atmosphere.
   Mega Damage: 2D6x10 per cannon and 4D6x10 for both cannons (Combined with lasers, inflicts 6D6x10)
   Rate of Fire: Equal to pilots hand to hand (Usually 4 or 5).
   Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
3. Missile Pylons (5): On the underbelly of the fighter are two missile racks that allows the fighter to carry missiles. Individual pylons must carry all the same type ordnance but each pylon may carry different types of ordnance. Long Range Missiles has a top speed of Mach 20 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 8% of light per turn (faster than any starship). Medium Range Missiles has a top speed of Mach 15 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 6% of light per turn. Since starships will no longer engage at rock throwing distances, whether weapons can be shot down is calculated from the speed of target, launcher, and missile. When drive goes dead, missile will still cruise unless set to self destruct but has very low odds of hitting starships (Great for hitting bases and planets because target does not move and missile when dead at -25% to detect.) Missiles can be launched on multiple targets simultaneously and all missiles are normally considered smart missiles.
   Maximum Effective Range: Long Range Missiles range is 3,400 miles (5470 km) in an atmosphere and 1,800,000 miles (2,897,000 km/9.7 light seconds) in space and Medium Range Missiles range is 160 miles (257.5 km) in an atmosphere and 80,000 miles (128,750 km/0.43 light seconds).
   Mega-Damage & Properties: See Revised Phase World Missile tables tables Long Range Fusion does 2D4x100 MDC).
   Rate of Fire: One at a time or in volleys of two, three, or four missiles.
   Payload: One Long Range Missile or two Medium Range Missile each hard point.
4. Cloaking Device: The Strakha Stealth Starfighter has a cloaking device that allows the stealth fighter to be undetectable by most sensors. In phase world this system has the problem that it does not hide the ships signature on gravitic sensors. The fighter cannot fire any weapons while cloaked, for one attack previous to cloaking, or just after decloaking although shields still operate while cloaked. Cloaking is limited to a six hour period before needing to be shut down for thirty minutes.
   When attacking and if fighter is not detected, the fighter has +8 initiative bonus against a target that is not alerted and +4 initiative bonus against targets that are alerted (at general quarters). If the cloaked fighter get a higher initiative, the fighter can fire its weapons previous to any opponents attacks.
   Each time the fighter's main body gets damaged, there is a percentage chance the cloaking device will be damaged. This is done by determining the total damage the ship has sustained and dividing that by the amount of damage the ship can take (210 in the Strakha's case) and getting a percentage of the hull that the ship has taken for damage. A percentile roll is then made. If the percentile roll is less than the percentage of damage the cloaking device is damaged and will be non operational.
5. Anti-Missile Decoy Dispenser: Located at the very tail of the fighter are two decoy dispensers. When a missile if fired at the fighter, a decoy can be released to confuse or detonate the enemy's attack. Decoy system works against Phase World missiles although has a -10% penalty against Brilliant missiles.
   Effect:
   01-50 Enemy missile or missile volley detonates on decoy - Missiles are all destroyed.
   51-75 Enemy missile or missile volley loses track of real target and veers away in wrong direction (May lock onto another target).
   76-00 No effect, missile is still on target.
   Payload: Six (6)

COMBAT BONUSES: The Strakha stealth fighter is very maneuverable and very accurate. Use the Phase World Starfighter combat (Elite or Basic) skill.

+2 to dodge
+1 to strike

[ Phase World TM, Kreeghor TM, and CAF TM are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]
[ Rifts® is a registered trademark owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc.]
[ Wing Commander copyright © Origin Productions]

By Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

Rifts Conversion Copyright © 2007, Kitsune. All rights reserved.