Thunderfighter

Thunderfighter
[[Image:|275px|Thunderfighter]]
Race:	{{{race}}}
Type:
FTL:
Propulsion:
Crew:	1
Capacity:
CO:	{{{co}}}
XO:	{{{xo}}}
Role:
Weapons:	{{{weapons}}}
Armaments:	{{{arm}}}
Defenses:	{{{def}}}
Aircraft:	{{{aircraft}}}
Aviation facilities:	{{{facilities}}}
Fate:	{{{status}}}
Emblem:	[[Image:{{{emblem}}}|175px|Ship's Emblem]]
Other Images:	Gallery
Dimensions
Length:	30.3 feet (9.2 meters)
Width:	17.8 feet (5.4 meters)
Height:	10.7 feet (3.3 meters)
Weight:	{{{weight}}}
Wingspan:	{{{wingspan}}}
Other:	{{{otherdi}}}
Game Information
Cost:	{{{construction}}}
Construction Time:	{{{construction}}}
Hull Size:	{{{hull size}}}
Hull:	{{{hull}}}
Mobility
FTL Cooldown:	{{{ftl cooldown}}} turns
Speed:	{{{speed}}} m/s
Turn Rate:	{{{turn rate}}}°/turn
Armor Sum
Armor Total:	{{{armor total}}}
Armor Left:	{{{armor left}}}
Armor Right:	{{{armor right}}}
Armor Front:	{{{armor front}}}
Armor Rear:	{{{armor rear}}}
Armor Top:	{{{armor top}}}
Armor Bottom:	{{{armor bottom}}}
Armament
DRADIS Range:	{{{dradis range}}} m
Processing Power:	{{{processing power}}}
Munition Slots:	{{{munitions}}}
Munition Cooldown Period:	{{{munition cooldown}}} turns
Squadron Slots:	{{{squadrons}}}
Special Abilities:	{{{special abilities}}}
Additional Information
[[|Information on Thunderfighter filming model]]
Thunderfighter in the separate continuity
Thunderfighter in the primary continuity

The Thunderfighter is a medium starfighter used by the Earth Defense Directorate to protect Earth and all starships in service in with the Earth government. The fighter is very maneuverable and heavily armed. It can launch and land under its own power but often uses electromagnetic launch systems to reach a greater initial velocity than would be otherwise possible.

The fighter is built around two needle-like "booms" with sharp noses and the fighter's twin engines are aft-mounted. The fighter's cockpit is situated between these booms, and comes in two configurations. The first contains a position for the pilot and a second compartment for a passenger behind the pilot. The second configuration is one large cockpit that seats four in two rows, with two seats per. The front two seats are for the pilot and co-pilot/weapons officer. The cockpit is rather blocky and has few rounded surfaces. The fighter has delta style wings and two control surfaces facing downwards near the rear of the fighter. An early version has additional vertical control surfaces above the engines, and horizontal equilateral winglets outside the weapon booms, adjacent to the front edge of the cockpit section (BR25: "A Blast for Buck").

Cockpit

Two variants of the Thunderfighter operate in 2491 CE. One version features a single forward canopy for the pilot, accessed by the pilot by climbing from the front (upon foot rungs along the landing skid's shaft).

The two-seater variant features an equipment load-out for the pilot in the forward canopy, featuring instrumentation, a video screen, and a control column by which the pilot controls the flight and weapons of the craft.

• 

  Col. Wilma Deering enters her fighter's cockpit aboard Draconia (BR25: Film, "Awakening").

• 

  Col. Deering boards her craft as the Third Force of the Earth Directorate scrambles to fend off a faux Pirate Attack on Draconia (BR25: Film, "Awakening").

• 

  Col. Wilma Deering while in combat during the Pirate Attack on Draconia (BR25: Film, "Awakening").

Instrumentation

Instrumentation of a Thunderfighter's cockpit.

• 

  Col. Wilma Deering manipulates her fighter's control column en route to Draconia (BR25: Film, "Awakening").

• 

  A line-rendering of Draconia from a Thunderfighter's visual screen readout (BR25: Film, "Awakening").

• 

  A Hatchet fighter moving across William "Buck" Rogers's Thunderfighter's screen during the Pirate Attack on Draconia (BR25: Film, "Awakening").

Weapons

The fighter is armed with eight laser cannons mounted near the front of the fighter and near where the booms extend from the rest of the body of the fighter. While the laser cannons are not that powerful individually, all eight firing in unison can inflict surprising damage. When the fighter is being used against starships, it can carry two anti-ship missiles mounted on the underbelly.

Thunderfighters were originally fitted with a combat program designed to fight better than the pilots themselves. During a faux battle with "pirates", this program was found to be predictable and a large number of pilots from Third Force of the Earth Directorate were lost as a result (BR25: Film, "Awakening"). The program is no longer used, and loss rates have decreased significantly as more attention has been given to honing human piloting skills (BR25: "Planet of the Slave Girls").

This fighter does have some disadvantages when compared to starfighters from other universes. The ship uses ion engines which have a lower duration than the gravity based engines used in most Starships within the Three Galaxies. The Thunderfighter also does not use missiles regularly and would likely suffer against any opponent who regularly uses missiles.