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S49E Intruder

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The general progression of the aircraft was noted in generations, and some wondered what could possibly come after the seventh generation aircraft. The Aerospace fighter changed the way the military thought of air combat as it finally took on a truly three dimensional aspect. The commercial sector saw the aerospace fighter as the source of advanced transports, effectively making trips from Washington DC to Sydney Australia matter of perhaps an hour where as before it several hours at least. Then the eighth generation of air power emerged and proved itself by the middle of the 2020 decade and again the role of air power had to be rethought. Suddenly conventional aircraft, as easy to maintain and cheap to build as they were became ineffective toys best left to civilian aviators and militia units. In the same way the future of the Aerospace fighter as a combat asset was threatened. In space no ASF was able to readily defeat a starfighter in a straight fight and likewise, even with atmospheric difficulties the ASF’s took grievous casualties fighting proportionate numbers of starfighters in mock battles. After extensive analysis the SSC grounded its conventional and aerospace divisions of its air force and began looking for something to fill their roles. At the time there were no applicable conventional aircraft or aerospace craft to match the necessary performance profiles and half of the SSC’s air force languished for eight long years. For the SSC this remained a daunting problem as the supporting factors for conventional aircraft and Aerospace aircraft operations posed a potential risk. Refueling required well placed airbases, carriers or even airborne tankers all of which were vulnerable to detection and attack.

The solution was found in an aging airframe, the S47E Intruder. The original S47 was accepted for production in 1937 and was advanced in design for it’s time to the point that both the Allied and Axis powers both made special efforts to attempt to capture one intact. Ironically the axis powers thought the S47 was a allied warplane due to passing resemblance to the Mustang. The allied powers were certain the S47 was a Nazi aircraft due to it’s resemblance in some aspects to the Focke-Wulf and Messerschmitt designs.
Despite this the S47 intruder has operated continuously with modifications and upgrades since then seeing several primary variants including the S47G, S47E and its prototype production model the S47A. Advanced engineering and upgrade-ability have remained hall marks of the design which is why it has remained in service for so long. When the time came to reduce the air force’s equipment supply issues the parable of the effective but inflexible S-91 Linebacker also came to the fore as an issue. There were no other fighters able to replace the Linebacker nor were there any aerospace fighters able to replace the Intruder. The logical solution was to heavily upgrade the Intruder into a primarily reconnaissance aerospace asset while filling the fighter gap with starfighters. Thus, the S49E Intruder was designed as a revision of the S47E which was already an effective combat platform. The New intruder due to it’s differing looks and radical overhaul received a new call number of 49 to indicate it was practically a new aircraft but retained an existing airframe.

The S49E fills a void that requires a role-dedicated aircraft, as it so happens the new Intruder’s additional characteristics have won it the praise of former Linebacker pilots as well as earlier model Intruder pilots. The clearest change can be seen in the overall shape of the craft is its wings stretch out an additional four meters each giving it a wingspan of 43 feet. The dual wing-mounted engines were removed in the S49E and replaced with an internal Kallon-Fusion reactor and thrust vectoring system including a hydrogen scoop system. The hydrogen scoop system appears as what looks like air intakes on either side of the fuselage and effectively extends the crafts flight time in an atmosphere sufficiently that pilots are generally the only limiting factor short of battle damage. In an atmosphere basically the engine system effectively grants the S49E planetary range. The range of the new Intruder is supported by one of the “Ezra” type stealth systems that further mask the Intruder’s existence from sensors and casual visual detection. Paired with the stealth suite is a high power sensor and electronic warfare suite; the pair of systems allows the Intruder to operate with very little chance of detection. Needless to say if the stealth features of the craft, and it’s electronic warfare systems and potent sensors are not enough the raw speed of the craft is generally enough to leave pursuit in the dust. The primary engine of the new Intruder is able to apply a cruising speed between mach 2.9 to 3.6 however the theoretical top safe speed in an atmosphere is at least mach 5.0. Operations outside of a planetary atmosphere are a different as the limitations of drag and other aerodynamic concerns lose validity. In effect the Intruder really comes into it’s own outside of a planet’s atmosphere as it can then attain its absolute maximum speed and shines as a reconnaissance vehicle of unmatched capability. It is worthwhile to mention that typically, S49E’s launched from starships in space or planetary facilities typically retire to those facilities after action. The reason for this is simple while the S49E can make atmospheric reentry it suffers serious damage after and may be totaled upon landing. Atmospheric escape velocity however while possible by sheer engine power alone requires such a long and complex arched flight angle that all but the top 0.03% of pilots can even achieve it without shredding the aircraft. As of the current time only one pilot has managed it outside of a simulator; Captain Lucas A. Foushee in "Midnight Madness" achieved the feat in 2037. Foushee was a former S-91 “Linebacker” pilot for at least fifteen years prior giving him more then enough skill to achieve the maneuver which was deemed suicidal by the designers of the Intruder at the time.

As a final note, the S49E does suffer from one major design weakness, its design basis. Since the redesign of the craft focused on ability to safely and reliably deliver reconnaissance information, the internal framework and other features were not hardened for resistance to the stresses of aerial dog fighting. Despite being armed with a pair of A/27 legacy cannon and four v-A/18 legacy guns, these are intended for defensive use or for shooting down other reconnaissance aircraft. Unfortunately the rapid maneuvers of a dogfight have the effect of over-stressing the wings and fuselage of the A49E resulting in often fatal damage to the craft and the usual damages to its crew. It is perhaps the worst part of this lack of ability to brawl that due to the existence of an inertial dampener device that the pilots who ruin their aircraft by using it improperly are highly likely to still be conscious when the craft breaks up under extreme maneuver stress. Due to this severe danger for the unwary pilot the SSC’s air force hand picks pilots for S49E assignment specifically for temperament and other critical criteria to ensure that the loss of S49E Intruders to pilot error is minimized as much as is possible.
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Krag7's avatar
it actually reminds me of the ever-famous 'sturmoviks'