Iron Heart Industries Falconet Light Fighter:

The Falconet was a quest by Iron Heart Industries to built a lighter and more flexible fighter than the Grey Falcon. The Grey Falcon was considered an excellent aircraft but there were some concerns about the design. There was no name initially assigned to the new fighter development and the engineers nicknamed the new fighter design "Falconet."Various new names for the fighter were suggested before it entered production but in the end the name "Falconet" stuck for the new fighter. It is believed that the design was developed in response to the Metalwork's Tigerhawk fighter which had been hurting Iron Heart Industries sales. Several customers showed interest in the Falconet and several mercenary companies bought small numbers of these fighters. It is likely that the fighter's sales would have increased except for the fact that the Coalition took over the Iron Heart Industries facilities and destroyed the production line for the Falconet along with most of Iron Heart's other facilities. Still, the owners of these fighters have continued operating these fighters and have come up with innovated solutions to maintain them.

As might be expected, the Falconet shares many of the same components as the Grey Falcon. Like the Grey Falcon, the Falconet is a delta wing design with forward canards. It has a single tail. The Falconet is designed to be both smaller and lighter than the Grey Falcon. The fighter is designed with the ability to land on extremely narrow runways in addition to being able to take of and land vertically. The vertical thrust system is a miniaturized version of the flight system carried on the Grey Falcon and is extremely similar to the vertical flight system carried on the Pre-Rifts Harrier. Power for the engines is provided by a fusion reactor which like most fusion systems operated in Iron Heart designs is not produced by Iron Heart Industries itself. There are no electrically or conventionally versions of the Falconet. The Falconet is slightly slower than the Grey Falcon but is slightly more maneuverable with a triple redundant fly by wire system. The wings can be removed and the fighter can be transported easily. Electronics are similar to those carried on the Grey Falcon and include a long range radar system which is far better than the system carried on the Metalwork's Tigerhawk fighter. A powerful jamming system is also carried on the Falconet.

Weaponry is carried quite differently on the Falconet as compared to the Grey Falcon. While the Falconet can carry far less ordnance, the fighter is far more flexible. On the wings and on the outer fuselage, the fighter has eight hard points. Each one can carry a single long range missiles or a mixture of lighter ordnance including bombs. Both unguided and guided bombs can be carried. The fighter is designed for both air combat and ground attack roles. Iron Heart industries made no provisions for mini-missile pods, towed decoys, or gun pods although several owners have expressed an interest in adding these weapon systems and both Metalwork Industries and Northern Gun are considering adapting their own systems for this fighter. The Falconet does mount some fixed weaponry. On the edge of each wing is a mini-missile pod with the capacity for sixteen missiles each. In addition, the fighter has a pulse laser mounted in the right wing root. This weapon has unlimited fire compared to a rail gun and is a much lighter installation.

Model Type: F-2A
Class: Fighter / Attack Plane
Crew: One

M.D.C. by Location:
[1] Nose Mounted Pulse Laser Cannon:30
Wing Mini Missile Launchers (2):50 each
[2] Wings (2):100 each
[3] Rudder:80
Reinforced Pilot's Compartment:100
[3] Engine:100 each
[4] Main Body:160
Landing Gear (3):10 each

Notes:
[1] These are small and difficult targets to strike, requiring the attacker to make a "called shot;" but even then the attacker is -4 to strike.
[2] Destroying a Wing will cause the plane to crash
[3] Destruction of the fighter's rudder or will still allow the fighter to be controlled by the varying of power levels of the engines and vectoring thrusters but the fighter has a penalty of -10 to dodge, and a -30% penalty to all piloting rolls. Destruction of both of the elevators will leave the plane uncontrollable and pilot must eject to survive.
[4] Destruction of the fighter's engine will cause the aircraft to crash. Pilot may attempt an emergency landing or pilot can choose to eject.
[5] Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will shut the Aircraft down completely, rendering it useless and causing it to crash if in flight

Speed:
Driving on Ground (Taxiing): Only possible for take offs and landings as well as for parking and storage. Speed is 40 mph (64 kph) when traveling and not on take off or landing.
Flying: The jet propulsion system enables the Falconet to reach a maximum speed of Mach 1.8 (1,335 mph /2,150 kph) and climb to an altitude of 40,000 feet (12,190 in). The jet has a minimum glide-speed of 60 mph (96 kin); if it goes any slower, it may stall completely and crash, unless engaged in VTOL. Cruising speed tends to be between 200 and 500 mph (320 to 800 kin). Attack speed can range from 200 to 670 mph (320 to 1072 kin) against ground targets and up to maximum speed against aerial advisories. Some attacks involve launching missiles from 5 + miles away, others are direct strafing runs or close aerial combat using the rail guns and mini-missile launcher.
Maximum Effective Range: Nuclear power gives it continual energy, but the jets overheat after 10 hours of continual use above 200 mph, or 4 hours if going above 600 mph (960 km). Going at 200 mph (320 km) with occasional rest stops will allow the aircraft to travel for 40 hours.

Statistical Data:
Height: 13.8 feet (4.2 meters)
Width: Wingspan is 27.9 feet (8.5 meters)
Length: 44.3 feet (13.5 meters) long
Weight: 14,330 pounds (6,500 kilograms) empty, 27557.8 pounds (12,500 kilograms) fully loaded
Power Source: Nuclear Fusion, Should have an average lifespan of 15 years.
Cargo: Minimal (Storage for small equipment). Does not include hard points
Note: Equipped with an exploding canopy and ejecting, parachute seat for emergency evacuation.
Black Market Cost: 12.5 million for a new, undamaged, fully powered and equipped F-2A (radar, long-range radio, ejection seat, etc.).

Weapon Systems:

  1. Pulse Laser Mount: The pulse laser is mounted under the nose of the fighter. At first a rail gun was considered but the weapon was found to be too heavy and a pulse laser would have an unlimited payload. Weapon fires multiple laser pulses when fired. It serves as the one of last line of defense against enemy planes and missile volleys and is often used when the fighter is out of missiles
    Maximum Effective Range: 4,000 feet (1,200 meters)
    Mega-Damage: 6D6 per pulse.
    Rate of Fire: Equal to combined hand to hand attacks of pilot or commander.
    Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
  2. Mini-Missile Launchers (2): Large capacity mini-missile pods are permanently mounted on the outside edge of each wing. The launchers are normally used for ground strafing, anti-troop, and anti-emplacement attacks. Normal missiles used are armor piercing, plasma, or fragmentation mini-missiles.
    Maximum Effective Range: Varies with missile types, mini-missiles only (Go to Revised bomb and missile table).
    Mega Damage: Varies with mini missile types (Go to Revised bomb and missile table).
    Rate of Fire: Each launcher can fire one at a time or in volleys of 2, 4, 8, or 16 and both launchers can be linked with the other mini missile launcher for up to 32 missiles as one volley (Counts as one attack no matter how many missiles in volley).
    Payload: Each launcher carries 16 mini-missile for a total of 32 mini-missiles.
  3. External Hard Points (8): The F-2A Falconet has a total of eight hard points with three hard points under each wing and two hard points on the fuselage of the aircraft. Each hard point may carry one long range missile or heavy bomb, two medium range missiles or medium bombs, or four short range missiles or light bombs. The hard points cannot carry mini missile pods or any other systems. Each hard points must carry the same type of missile but different hard points may carry different ordnance types but ordnance is normally carried in symmetrical pairs. Both unguided and guided bombs can be carried by the aircraft. Several independent companies are considering developing mini-missile packs, gun pods, and towed decoys for the hard points.
    Maximum Effective Range: Varies by missile type for missile and varies by altitude bombs are dropped at (Go to Revised bomb and missile table).
    Mega Damage: Varies by missile or bomb type (Go to Revised bomb and missile table).
    Rate of Fire: Missiles can be fired and bombs can be dropped one at a time per hard point. Multiple hard points can be linked as one attack but must be the same size (light, medium, or heavy) and style of ordnance (all missiles or bombs in a volley)
    Payload: Varies by hard point - one long range missile or heavy bomb, two medium range missile or medium bombs, or four short range missiles or light bombs (see above - all ordnance on a hard point must be the same size and type of ordnance.)

Special Equipment:
The fighter has all the standard features of a standard fighter (same as standard robot minus loudspeaker and microphone) plus these special features listed:

Combat Bonuses:

[Coalition TM, Iron Heart TM, Northern Gun TM, Phase World TM, and Triax TM are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc.]
[ Rifts® is a registered trademark owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc.]

By Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

Copyright © 2007, Kitsune. All rights reserved.

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