While standard Consortium Assault Shuttle is an excellent design, if has several weaknesses. The most important is a lack of shields. The comparable Trans-Galactic Empire design carries heavy defensive shields. As well, the CAF Shuttle does not carry any missiles beyond those carried on the shuttle's point defense batteries. The general theory is that fighters escorting the assault shuttle are suppose to clear a landing area for the shuttle. The command, mostly civilian, in the Consortium also considered it likely that crews might try and fight with fighters if the shuttle was better armed. The problem is that the theory does not take into account that often fighters escorting the shuttles will be occupied with keeping enemy fighters from attacking the relatively slow moving shuttles and cannot be spared for ground attack roles themselves. The main Kreeghor combat shuttle reflects this in carrying missiles in a large internal bay.

Even though the Consortium is incredibly wealthy and the military budget is incredible, there are limitations on the budget. Several important military programs are underfunded and alternate solutions have been used to address needs of the Consortium Military. This includes the development of the Low Bow class patrol ship as a "major repair" of the Scimitar class patrol ship. If the need for a replacement for the Consortium Assault Shuttle was brought before the Government, there would be major studies which would likely cost trillion of credits and any new shuttle design would be years away. Generally, the Assault Shuttle is considered a good design and it was decided by several senior officers that the best solution would be to simply modify the shuttle design. It was also decided that no new system would be developed. Instead, off the shelf components would be used. Like fighters, shuttles are normally brought into a major facilities and completely refurbished. These facilities are mostly military controlled and shuttles are simply rebuilt with the new systems when they are brought into be refurbished. A few rebuilds have been done onboard carriers themselves although most are done in these remote facilities.

There are hundreds of thousands of Procter class heavy fighters in service and it was relatively simple to adapt the shield of the heavy fighter to the shuttle. Most crews consider the shield to double its chances of surviving a hostile landing. Power systems needed to be modified to support the shields. The design would require too much modification for an internal missile bay to be practical. Instead, it was decided that a number of external hard points would be fitted to the shuttle. The shuttle is designed to be able to carry up to thirty-two long range missiles externally or up to sixty-four medium range missiles. A mixture of long range and medium range can also be carried as well as short range missiles. Due to defensive shields, the missiles create no additional drag when operating in an atmosphere. To be able to control the missiles, the fire control systems of the shuttle were upgraded. Missile control stations are mounted in the pilot and co-pilot stations with the sensor officer having controls as well.

Due to budget and scheduling restraints, only a small percentage of shuttles have been refurbished. It is likely that all Assault Shuttles will never be refitted. The ones which have been refitted have been sent to ships which are near hostile territory including the border with the Trans-Galactic Empire. A Packmaster class carried might carry five to ten of the upgraded shuttles. These would make the first assault wave which would then be followed up with waves of conventionally outfitted assault shuttles. The Dire Wolf class assault carriers have been made a priority with regard to upgraded shuttles and the three which have be refitted carry twenty upgraded assault shuttles each. Reports from crews of the upgraded shuttle are overwhelming positive.

Several other militaries are also interested in the upgraded version of the Assault Shuttle including New Coventry who has refitted virtually all of their shuttles to the upgraded model. The Human Alliance is also interested in the upgraded version of the shuttle and has begun upgrading their fighters. Each Normandy class carrier in full commission already carries five of the upgraded model and as they are replaced by modified Dragonfly class light assault carriers, the fighters will be assigned to the new carriers. It is presently planned that the Dragonfly class will carry exclusively the upgraded version. Several other Independent Defense Forces have also upgraded their fighters to the improved design.

Ship design uses modified starship speeds and weapon ranges. See Revised Starship Rules for Phase World for more details.

(Note: The power system is fusion not anti-matter because the author's opinion is that anti-matter is to dangerous to be used in vehicles that may be used in an atmosphere. If a starship powered by anti-matter was to detonate in an atmosphere it would cause huge planetary damage. At GM option, this can also be applied to all starfighters and shuttles or this shuttle can be changed to anti-matter.)

Model: SAS-12-D
Vehicle Type: Tactical Troop Transport (Space)
Crew: Seven (Pilot, Copilot, Communication/Sensor Operator, and four Gunners).

Troops / Vehicles: Up to 500 tons (450 metric tons). This only lists two common troop loads, there are many other possible combinations.
Vehicle & Troops:

	8	Tanks or APCs (up to 50 ft long)
	100	Troops in Body Armor (75 if in Power Armor)

Troops Only:

300

Troops in Body Armor (225 if in Power Armor)

M.D.C. By Location:

	Laser / Mini-Missile Turrets (4):	150 each
	Variable Focus Point Defense Particle Beam Cannons (2):	100 each
	Missile Pylons (32, on the Underside):	10 each
	Reinforced Pilot's Compartment:	200
	Rear Door Ramp:	400
	Landing Gear (3):	100 each
	[1] Main Body:	2,200
	[2] Variable Force Field:	400 per side (2,400 total)

Notes:
[1] Depleting the MDC of the main body will put the shuttle out of commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support and internal gravity. The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating wreck if in space and will crash to the planet if within the atmosphere.
[2] Shields positions can be varied and all could be combined in one shield. Shields regenerate at the rate of 5% (120 MDC) 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. Star Ship can accelerate/decelerate at the rate of 0.6 percent of light per melee
Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum cruise speed is 400 mph (640 kph), can enter and leave an atmosphere because flight system is by contra grav.
Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by Drive system but only has supplies for crew members and troops for about two months (Emergency rations).

Statistical Data:
Length: 240 feet (73.2 meters).
Height: 50 feet (15.2 meters).
Width: 70 feet (21.3 meters)
Weight: 1,200 tons (1,088 metric tons)
Power System: Advanced Fusion with 20 year life span.
Cargo: The Large troop compartment can carry 500 tons (450 metric tons) when not carrying vehicles or troops. The troop compartment cargo hold is 40 x 40 x 100 feet in dimensions (12.2 x 12.2 x 30.4 meters). The shuttle also has storage for equipment and weapons for troops.
Market Cost: 180 million credits for a fully armed and upgraded SAS-12-B Assault Shuttle. Upgrading the SAS to the upgraded version costs around 40 million credits. The original SAS-12 Assault shuttle costs around 150 million credits.

WEAPON SYSTEMS:

1. Point Defense Lasers/Mini Missile Batteries (4): Each turret can rotate 360 and has a 180 arc of fire. Weapons are mounted on the corners of the shuttle for point defense. Weapon mount can be controleld by gunner or can operate by a pre-programmed fire control package (On automatic, mount has +2 to strike and four attacks per melee) Missile has a top speed of Mach 10 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 2% of light per turn (slightly faster than any starship except if it is exceeding it maximum safe acceleration) in space. Missile launchers can launch on multiple targets each at the same time.
   Maximum Effective Range: Missile range is 2 miles (3.2 km) in an atmosphere and 100 miles (161 km) in space. Lasers have a range of 1 mile in an atmosphere and 100 miles in space.
   Mega-Damage: Laser cannon does 1D4x10 M.D. Missiles vary by missile type (See Phase World Missiles.)
   Rate of Fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the Gunner (usually 4 or 5). Missiles are fire one at a time or in volleys of two, four, or eight missiles. (On automatic, mount has +2 to strike and four attacks per melee)
   Payload: Laser has effectively unlimited payload. Has 32 missiles at each launcher (128 missiles total).
2. Two (2) Particle Beam Mounts: One mount is on the top of the body of the shuttle and the other mount is on the bottom of the shuttle. Particle beams will fire a very powerful narrow beam and can fire a scatter effect that is less powerful but is capable of striking multiple targets. The weapon system is quite useful against missiles although the cone is not as wide as Tachyon cannon sprays are. Weapons are mounted in turrets that can rotate 360 and have a 180 arc of fire. Each mount can be operated by a gunner or a gunner program (+2 to strike, 3 Attacks per melee).
   Maximum Effective Range: 300 miles (480 km) in space and 3 miles (4.8 km) in an atmosphere.
   Mega Damage: Single Target: 4D6x10 Wide Beam: 5D6 to all targets within a 5,000 foot (1,524 meter) diameter area. When fired as a wide beam, the cannon cannot be used on targets closer than 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) away.
   Rate of fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the Gunner (usually 4 or 5).
   Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
3. Missile Pylons (32): On the underbelly of the shuttle are thirty two missile racks that allows the fighter to carry one long range missiles, two medium range missiles, or four short range missiles each. 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 (faster than any starship). Short Range Missiles: The missile has a top speed of Mach 10 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 4% of light per turn (faster than any starship except if it is exceeding it maximum safe acceleration). 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.) Missile can be launched on multiple targets simultaneously.
   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, Medium Range Missiles range is 160 miles (257.5 km) in an atmosphere and 80,000 miles (128,750 km/0.43 light seconds), and Short Range Missile range is 10 miles (16.1 km) in an atmosphere and 500 miles (804.7 km) in space.
   Mega-Damage & Properties: See Phase World Missiles (Long Range Fusion does 2D4x100 MDC).
   Rate of fire: One at a time or in volleys of two, three, four, or eight missiles.
   Payload: 1 Long Range Missile, 2 Medium Range Missiles, or 4 Short Range Missiles per Pylon.

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By Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

Copyright © 2006, Kitsune. All rights reserved.